Elizabeth Jane Robertson CBE FRS MAE is a British developmental biologist based at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford.[1] She is Professor of Developmental Biology[2] at Oxford and a Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellow.[3] She is best known for her pioneering work in developmental genetics, showing that genetic mutations could be introduced into the mouse germ line by using genetically altered embryonic stem cells.[4][5] This discovery opened up a major field of experimentation for biologists and clinicians.[6][7][8]
Liz Robertson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Elizabeth Jane Robertson |
| Alma mater | University of Oxford (BA, MA) University of Cambridge (PhD) |
| Awards | Royal Medal (2016) EMBO Member (2002) Suffrage Science award (2011) |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Columbia University Harvard University University of Oxford |
| Doctoral advisor | Martin Evans |
Education
editRobertson earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Oxford.[9] She received a PhD from the University of Cambridge in 1982 under the supervision of Martin Evans.[10]
Career and research
editAfter her PhD, she stayed on at the University of Cambridge for her postdoctoral fellowship and continued to work there as a research assistant following the completion of her fellowship.[11] She was a professor first at Columbia University and then Harvard University before moving to the University of Oxford.[11] In her lab at Columbia she was the first to show that embryonic stem cells carrying genetic mutations could contribute to all parts of the adult mouse body, including the cells that eventually make up the gametes, i.e. sperm and egg cells, allowing these mutations to be transmitted to the next generation.[4][5] She used this approach to test the role of specific growth factors in embryonic development,[12] and to screen for previously unknown genes that prevent normal development.[13][14] Robertson's work was among the first to show that the disruption of many genes has surprisingly little effect on development and organismal phenotype,[15][16][17] contributing to a long-running challenge in the understanding of the robustness of biological systems. She has also made significant contributions to the question of how the early embryo determines the anterior-posterior polarity that patterns the embryo from head to tail[18][19] and the mechanisms that pattern the embryo from left to right.[20]
Robertson currently serves as an editor of the journal Development.[21] She serves on the editorial boards of Developmental Biology,[22] Current Opinion in Genetics & Development,[23] and Developmental Cell.[24]
Honours and awards
editRobertson was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to medical sciences.[25]
- 2016: Royal Medal "for her innovative work within the field of mouse embryology and development, establishing the pathways involved in early body planning of the mammalian embryo."[26]
- Fellow of the Royal Society, since 2003[27]
- Member of the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) since 2002[28]
- Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellow[29]
- Chair of the British Society for Developmental Biology[30]
- Winner of the 2008 Edwin G. Conklin Medal (The Society for Developmental Biology)[11]
- Fellow at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation 1990–1995[11]
- Chair of General Motors Cancer Research Foundation[31]
- Sloan Prize Committee[31]
- Member of General Motors Cancer Research Foundation Assembly[31]
- Associate member of the European Molecular Biology Organization[31]
- 2011 Member of Academia Europaea (MAE)[31]
- 2011 Suffrage Science award
- 2009 Waddington Medal[31]
- 2007 Rockefeller University's Pearl Meister Greengard Prize[31]
- 1992 The American Association for Cancer Research: Cornelius P Rhoads Award[31]
- 1990–1995 Stohlman Scholar for the Leukemia Society of America[31]
- 1990 Irma T Hirschl Career Development Award[31]
- 1989 March of Dimes Basil O'Connor Starter Scholar Award[31]
References
edit- ^ Elizabeth Robertson group Archived 20 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine, path.ox.ac.uk ; accessed 9 April 2018.
- ^ Liz Robertson Archived 6 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine, stemcells.ox.ac.uk; accessed 9 April 2018.
- ^ Principal Research Fellows Archived 14 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine, wellcome.ac.uk; accessed 9 April 2018.
- ^ a b "Elizabeth Robertson | Royal Society". royalsociety.org. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
- ^ a b Schwartzberg, P. L.; Goff, S. P.; Robertson, E. J. (10 November 1989). "Germ-line transmission of a c-abl mutation produced by targeted gene disruption in ES cells". Science. 246 (4931): 799–803. Bibcode:1989Sci...246..799S. doi:10.1126/science.2554496. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 2554496.
- ^ Mak, T. W.; Penninger, J. M.; Ohashi, P. S. (2001). "Knockout mice: a paradigm shift in modern immunology". Nature Reviews. Immunology. 1 (1): 11–19. doi:10.1038/35095551. ISSN 1474-1733. PMID 11905810.
- ^ Butler, A. A.; Cone, R. D. (2001). "Knockout models resulting in the development of obesity". Trends in Genetics. 17 (10): S50–54. doi:10.1016/S0168-9525(01)02481-7. ISSN 0168-9525. PMID 11585677.
- ^ Smith, Austin G. (2001). "Embryo-Derived Stem Cells: Of Mice and Men". Annual Review of Cell and Developmental Biology. 17 (1): 435–462. doi:10.1146/annurev.cellbio.17.1.435. PMID 11687496. S2CID 30030832.
- ^ Elizabeth Robertson: International Advisory Board in Developmental Biology, f1000.com; accessed 9 April 2018.
- ^ "Elizabeth Robertson". Greengard Prize. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
- ^ a b c d Blank, Ann (2008). "Elizabeth Robertson Awarded Edwin G. Conklin Medal" (PDF). Society for Developmental Biology. SDB. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
- ^ DeChiara, T. M.; Efstratiadis, A.; Robertson, E. J. (3 May 1990). "A growth-deficiency phenotype in heterozygous mice carrying an insulin-like growth factor II gene disrupted by targeting". Nature. 345 (6270): 78–80. Bibcode:1990Natur.345...78D. doi:10.1038/345078a0. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 2330056. S2CID 4343800.
- ^ Conlon, F. L.; Barth, K. S.; Robertson, E. J. (1991). "A novel retrovirally induced embryonic lethal mutation in the mouse: assessment of the developmental fate of embryonic stem cells homozygous for the 413.d proviral integration". Development. 111 (4): 969–981. doi:10.1242/dev.111.4.969. ISSN 0950-1991. PMID 1879365.
- ^ Robertson, E. J.; Conlon, F. L.; Barth, K. S.; Costantini, F.; Lee, J. J. (1992). "Use of Embryonic Stem Cells to Study Mutations Affecting Postimplantation Development in the Mouse". Ciba Foundation Symposium 165 - Postimplantation Development in the Mouse. Novartis Foundation Symposia. Vol. 165. pp. 237–250, discussion 250–255. doi:10.1002/9780470514221.ch14. ISBN 9780470514221. ISSN 0300-5208. PMID 1516471.
{{cite book}}:|journal=ignored (help) - ^ Dudley, A. T.; Lyons, K. M.; Robertson, E. J. (15 November 1995). "A requirement for bone morphogenetic protein-7 during development of the mammalian kidney and eye". Genes & Development. 9 (22): 2795–2807. doi:10.1101/gad.9.22.2795. ISSN 0890-9369. PMID 7590254.
- ^ Dudley, A. T.; Robertson, E. J. (1997). "Overlapping expression domains of bone morphogenetic protein family members potentially account for limited tissue defects in BMP7 deficient embryos". Developmental Dynamics. 208 (3): 349–362. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1097-0177(199703)208:3<349::AID-AJA6>3.0.CO;2-I. ISSN 1058-8388. PMID 9056639. S2CID 32956921.
- ^ Solloway, M. J.; Robertson, E. J. (1999). "Early embryonic lethality in Bmp5;Bmp7 double mutant mice suggests functional redundancy within the 60A subgroup". Development. 126 (8): 1753–1768. doi:10.1242/dev.126.8.1753. ISSN 0950-1991. PMID 10079236.
- ^ Brennan, J.; Lu, C. C.; Norris, D. P.; Rodriguez, T. A.; Beddington, R. S.; Robertson, E. J. (21 June 2001). "Nodal signalling in the epiblast patterns the early mouse embryo". Nature. 411 (6840): 965–969. Bibcode:2001Natur.411..965B. doi:10.1038/35082103. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 11418863. S2CID 4402639.
- ^ Lu, Cindy C.; Robertson, Elizabeth J. (1 September 2004). "Multiple roles for Nodal in the epiblast of the mouse embryo in the establishment of anterior-posterior patterning". Developmental Biology. 273 (1): 149–159. doi:10.1016/j.ydbio.2004.06.004. ISSN 0012-1606. PMID 15302604.
- ^ Brennan, Jane; Norris, Dominic P.; Robertson, Elizabeth J. (15 September 2002). "Nodal activity in the node governs left-right asymmetry". Genes & Development. 16 (18): 2339–2344. doi:10.1101/gad.1016202. ISSN 0890-9369. PMC 187443. PMID 12231623.
- ^ "Editors and Board". dev.biologists.org. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
- ^ Developmental Biology Editorial Board. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
{{cite book}}:|website=ignored (help) - ^ Current Opinion in Genetics & Development Editorial Board. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
{{cite book}}:|website=ignored (help) - ^ "Developmental Cell Editorial Board". Retrieved 2 March 2017.
- ^ "No. 64269". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 2023. p. N11.
- ^ 2016 Royal Medallists, Royalsociety.org; accessed 9 April 2018.
- ^ Fellows of the Royal Society, RoyalSociety.org; accessed 9 April 2018.
- ^ "EMBO Membership Pocket Guide" (PDF). Embo.org. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
- ^ Principal Research Fellows Archived 14 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Wellcome.ac.uk; accessed 9 April 2018.
- ^ British Society for Developmental Biology, bsdb.org; accessed 9 April 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Hoffmann, Ilire Hasani, Robert. "Academy of Europe: Robertson Elizabeth". ae-info.org. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
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